Hearing this, Liu Yun's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't show it. She glanced at Liu Jing and said, "One person might not dare, but what if the whole village secretly does it? How much do you think they could handle? After all, it's not easy for them to come here. We can't let them not even earn back their travel expenses!"
“Indeed.” Liu Jing didn’t doubt this. The South is mountainous, and many small villages are located in the mountains. Most of the roads that lead to them are mountain paths, and even the roads are dirt roads. It’s impossible to ride a bicycle up there. Even walking up them is difficult because they are all steep slopes, and there are usually one slope after another. The mountains in the South are no joke.
The village is isolated, but the people there live quite well. After all, no one would be so hungry as to report it. Every household raises a lot of poultry, and as long as there are no natural disasters and the people aren't lazy, they generally won't go hungry. Although it's difficult for them to get in, it's not so difficult for them to get out either. After all, most people in the village are used to those mountain roads, and there are many villages like that!
Rabbits primarily eat grass, unlike chickens and ducks which might not grow fat if they only eat grass. They also reproduce quickly, often having many offspring per litter, making them a very cost-effective food source. Furthermore, rabbit droppings can be used as fertilizer. If their numbers aren't too large, they might only earn a hundred or so yuan per trip. If each household shares the earnings, it might only be ten or so yuan per family, which isn't very profitable. Therefore, the larger the number of rabbits, the more willing they are to work.
"How about I let you know tomorrow and see if we can eat more?" It wasn't that Liu Jing was being overly compassionate, but rather that the more she ate, the more she would earn.
Hearing this, Liu Yun's eyes lit up. "Sure! But does your brother-in-law know about all this?"
Liu Jing just wanted to roll her eyes at her. "Of course he knows! Doesn't your brother-in-law know what you've been doing?"
"I know some things, but not this much."
Upon hearing the gossip, Liu Jing perked up, her whole body stiffening. "How so?"
"He knows I resell some things, but he doesn't know how much I've done?"
"So you mean your brother-in-law still doesn't know how much money you've earned? Goodness, you're really good at hiding things! How much secret money have you saved up? Other people save money to support their parents, but it's not worth it for Mom to do that!" Liu Jing was genuinely surprised this time. She hadn't expected her younger sister to be so good at hiding things. Although she didn't earn as much as her, she must have earned quite a bit. Thirty or fifty yuan a month over the past year or so wouldn't be much different. How much money must she have secretly saved!
"Your brother-in-law knows how much you've earned? You've told him everything? You didn't hide a single penny from him?"
"No! Your brother-in-law gave me all the money. He knows how much money we have at home. Besides, why would I hide money? I manage all the money at home. I could understand if my mother-in-law managed it."
Liu Yun hadn't expected Liu Jing, with her strong, independent demeanor, to be so naive in this respect. But then again, most people in this era were like that. "You trust your brother-in-law that much?! A woman must always have a way out. No, in this world, you must always have a way out, because people's expectations of women are too harsh. Although everyone says women hold up half the sky, that men and women are equal, and that women are indeed much freer, look at most families—the women cook, the women do the housework, the women give birth, and the women take care of the children! It's still the mothers who do most of the childcare." "And the men still have to go out to work! What else do they do besides work? Aren't there still heartless guys who go out and find mistresses as soon as they get a little money? So even if you know they won't do that, you still have to leave yourself a way out, you know? After all, you can't see into someone's heart, who knows what will happen in the future? Besides, what they're doing is riskier, but the money comes faster. Unlike us, we work ourselves to the bone for half a year and still don't earn as much as they do in a month. Who knows how much money they've actually made? So you still have to keep it a secret, don't expose everything. You better keep it a secret for me! Don't sell me out, we're family."
Liu Jing had never thought about these things before, but she did agree with what Liu Yun said; she just hadn't considered this aspect before. She only knew that Xiao Zhihua had some operating funds, but she didn't know exactly how much. However, she figured it wouldn't be a small amount, since he would give her several hundred or sometimes even a thousand at the end of the year.
"So you secretly saved that much money?" Even if you were just secretly saving some, this is still way too much!
"There's no way I could have that much. My salary is fixed, and most of what I buy—food, household items, and clothes—is paid for with my own money. How much do you think I could possibly have left?"
Liu Jing thought about how Liu Yun spent money and realized that she couldn't save much; she earned a lot, but spent even more.
Liu Jing took Liu Yun's words to heart and worked even harder to make money, leaving Liu Yun dumbfounded.
She swore she hadn't meant to sow discord with her words. While a small part of it was to keep some information from Liu Jing—after all, who could have predicted the country's rapid development after the reform and opening up? The world could certainly be dazzling and alluring. But her main purpose was to get Liu Jing to keep it a secret and not reveal her background to Xiao Zhihua and Yu Qian. After all, how would she know about the rabbit-raising village? Even if it might exist, she genuinely didn't know it! So she wanted to keep it hidden.
Unexpectedly, this fueled Liu Jing's desire to make money, and she kept trying to motivate Liu Yun to do the same. The reason was that Liu Yun was too good at spending money and needed to save more. If she couldn't change her spending habits, she could always save money by earning more.
Xiao Zhihua and Yu Qian did indeed make money. After all, having skills and craftsmanship is always in demand, especially since they had connections, capital, and expertise!
Yu Qian and Fu Yao collected broken watches, bicycles, radios, and other items, along with their spare parts. They repaired what could be repaired and disassembled and reassembled what couldn't. Xiao Zhihua also sourced parts for them from various places. Previously, the two of them had been working in Xinshi, earning a considerable amount, but the market was limited. With Xiao Zhihua's help, things changed. He frequently traveled across the country, opening up new markets. Not only did they acquire more items and places, but the market also expanded, leading to increased profits. Xiao Zhihua also benefited. Although he traveled extensively before, the items he carried, while expensive, weren't particularly valuable, limiting his earnings. However, working with Yu Qian and Fu Yao made a difference. Items like watches and radios were readily available everywhere, fetching over a hundred yuan each. He might not even earn a hundred yuan a month, especially since they were being sold as scrap, making the price difference astronomical.
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